


Awakening

by Twylen



Series: NiGHTS: NNT [2]
Category: NiGHTS into Dreams, ナイツ 〜星降る夜の物語〜 | NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Gen, NnT, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2020-12-15 23:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21026423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twylen/pseuds/Twylen
Summary: Even after Wizeman's second defeat, he still manages to return. A somewhat familiar dreamer finds her way to Nightopia unscathed, and searches for answers to her mother's death within the lost world of the Dream Plaza. (Summary still in the works)





	1. <Event> Comatose

_ Unlike the climates of most islands in the north, Valland is quite unusual. Its volcano acts as a heater for the surrounding waters. During the winter, cold winds sweep up this water, bringing bountiful snowfall to the island. _

A sharp ringing hit Maria’s ear as her last class period ended. She picked up her already packed bag grazing by her wooden desk, boots clomping across the tiles. Caught in the river of students, she headed towards the main entrance eagerly gazing for her friends. A glint of red hair caught her eyes, and she followed the smell of flowery perfume to a pale girl bundled in a fluffy coat.

“Raya, are you free next Friday?” The two squeezed through door feeling the cold breeze hit their skin.

“I’m checking out Elashore Art School that weekend and my mom and I are driving down there and staying in a hotel,” she replied. Her eyes drifted off towards a girl with azure hair. “Abby!”

Blue eyes hidden by foggy rectangular glasses glanced over and waved. Boots crunched through the icy snow leaving small footprints behind. The girl reached her friends, giving each a hug. “Hey guys, what’s up?”

“I was checking to see when Raya was free. I wanted to go ice skating or something as a group. We never get to hang out much,” Maria replied, wiping chestnut waves out of her eyes.

“With all of the games Jamie has, and all of your classes, we never get to do much,” Abby pouted.

“You’re busy a fair amount too with all of your auditions now,” the redhead spoke.

Across the street the middle school courtyard flooded with students. Maria and Abby looked at each other, then Raya. “We’ve gotta go get our crazy brothers,” Abby sighed.

“Text me when you’re free Raya. I hope we’ll get to hang out at least once holiday break.” Maria trudged through the snow nonchalantly while Abby meticulously retraced her steps.

  
After crossing the sludgy street, the girls pushed through the crowd to the side of the entrance where a chestnut-haired boy and green-haired boy were talking. “Hey Maria,” the green haired boy smirked at her flirtatiously.

  
“Jake, quit it.” Abby’s azure eyes pierced her brother’s emerald eyes angrily.

  
“What? I’m just playing.” The American rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly.

  
Maria sighed and looked down at her brother. “Maria, Jake and I are going to have a sleepover at our house. I texted dad, and he said it was okay.” His blue eyes glistened with excitement giving the elder sibling a smile.

  
“Maria, you wanna hang at my house then tonight?” Abby suggested.

  
The teen nodded, and released a long sigh.

  
Several hours passed, and Maria was at her friend’s front door. A two-tone chime rang, and even from outside one could hear the pounding footsteps of the enthusiastic teen speeding down the stairs. The wooden door swung open and the screen door was pushed open. “Come on in Maria!” the actress grinned giddily giving the other girl a hug.  
Maria struggled as she pulled off her fuzzy rubber boots which had suctioned onto her feet. Once her feet were free, she set the sopping wet shoes onto the rug. The two climbed the soft, carpeted stairs to Abby’s room. The first impression of this room was always the scent of mango. The actress has a thing for tropical fruits and the beach which translated into the pineapple patterned bedspread and wooden beach-inspired signs.

“Like my new rug?” Abby motioned down to a fluffy white rug which covered a piece of hard wooden floor. “Thought of you when I got it. Now it’s not as bad when you sleep on the ground here.”

Maria chuckled. She placed her heavy backpack on the ground and pulled her sleeping bag out. Setting nylon sleeping bag on the ground, she unzipped it turning it into a blanket.

“Did you write anymore poems or articles?” Abby asked, turning on the TV on top of her dresser.

Maria pulled out her laptop and plugged it into the wall “No, I haven’t, although I really want to write a fictional series.”

The other teen scrolled through the channels to see if anything good was on, and ended up finding a movie from their childhood about a princess who didn’t want to be a princess and had an adventures as a peasant. It’s said it’s inspired by the journals Queen Azbrie the First.

“I haven’t seen this one in years,” Maria smiled, typing up a quick post for her blog.

“I love this one so much. If I were a princess, I wouldn’t want to be stuck with all of those responsibilities,” Abby chuckled.

“Same. It’s so cool that it’s somewhat of a true story. Too bad they were only a part of Azbrie’s dreams.” Maria looked over the actress playing Azbrie. The girl looked a lot like the depictions of the princess when she was younger with long blonde hair and chocolate eyes.

“Do you wanna go get some popcorn or something?” The blue-haired girl had removed her glasses and wiped them off.

“Sure,” Maria shrugged, setting her computer aside and getting up.

The two moseyed downstairs running into Mr. Wakefield in the hallway. “Hello Maria,” he waved as he walked by in his suit. Abby’s dad worked in the American embassy here in Bellbridge. He used to be in the army, but retired and decided to work here.

“Hello sir,” Maria returned.

Abby led Maria past the dining room into the kitchen. Maria sat down at the kitchen table as her friend pulled out a bag of microwave popcorn, and popped it into the microwave. During the two minutes they waited, Maria sat and listened to Abby’s dramatic story about how annoying the guy who always played the lead in all of the shows she’s in. Even though some of the thinking if flawed, Maria just listens, and laughs along. The soon went upstairs with the popcorn, and hung out before drifting to sleep at one in the morning.  
  
Maria found herself in a room with pale yellow wallpaper and carpeted floors identical to her bedroom in her old house. Before her was mother holding a bedtime story. It wasn’t obvious which story, but it was clear it was on of the girl’s favorites. Her mother’s voice vaguely read out the story as it was difficult for Maria to recall the sound of her mother. As the story continued near then end, her mother grew more and more tired, struggling to finish the story. Before she could finish the ‘happily ever after’, she had completely fallen asleep.

“Mom?” Maria’s childish voice was playful as she got up, and tugged at her mom’s sleeve. The woman didn’t respond. 

“Mom?” The little voice was a little stronger, as she began to worry. 

“Mom?!” The girl became frantic as her mom slumped over and tumbled to the ground loudly. 

“Mom!!” The five-year-old Maria cried as loud sirens began blaring and medics ran into the room. Her mother was lifted up, and carried out of the room on a gurney. The medics and her father ran back into the room, and was just about to tell Maria the bad news she already knew, but when it was spoken, it didn’t break her. Maria remembered this had already happened. She was passed it. The medics were somehow angered at the girl’s lack of sadness and pain. Their bodies faded into wisps of shadow. Crimson eyes glared ravenously at the Vallish teen. The room disappeared, and surrounding her was only darkness. 

The writer dashed away as the monsters lunged towards her. Maria was determined to get away from the creatures, but how? The area surrounding her was pitch black. There were neither lights nor shadows to show any path. In her mind, she conjured positive thoughts even though everything around her seemed hopeless. As she continued fostering hope and positivity in her mind, a blinding light grew from her chest. The light soon engulfed her, causing her to shut her eyelids. As she squinted her eyes open, the darkness had completely disappeared and in place of it was a completely different environment.

Maria’s eyes adjusted to the rays of sunlight filtering through the woods she found herself in. In the distance, she could hear water trickling, and leaves rustling above her.

Maria decided to follow the sound of water, but was puzzled why she was even in a strange forest in the first place. Was she dreaming? If so, why wasn’t this somewhere she recognized? She wasn’t completely aware of herself, seeing she didn’t notice the clothes she was wearing were not the pajamas she had changed into. As continued, she saw a small babbling brook in a little valley, and carefully slid down the hill in black flat, grabbing trunks of trees on the way down to balance herself. Reaching the water, she looked in both directions and concluded it’d be best to follow the water downstream since smaller streams often lead to bigger rivers, meaning settlements, and other people to explain where she was and what those monsters were.

After about 15 minute travelling in solitude, the woods finally came to an end as the last trees revealed an open field. The brook soon joined a stream which was too large to hop over without falling in. Across the water appeared to be some sort of structure in the distance. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but was determined to find out. Maria put one foot down in the muddy ditch, instantly slipped. Luckily, she had fallen onto the dry soil, but her right foot was covered in mud, and she could feel it inside her flat. The girl laughed at herself before wading through the ankle-deep water until she reached the grass on the other side.

Before heading to the structure, she sat down and wiped her legs off on the grass. She carefully dipped her mud-caked flat into the water below, and rubbed out as much gunk as she could.. With shoes sopping wet, the writer paced through the slightly overgrown grass. As she got closer, the structure turned out to be a relatively large bird bath, big enough for penguins if they could fly. Maria was about to walk away but was startled as a strange sound erupted from the air above the bird bath.

“Hoo- Oh well hello Visitor welcome to the Dream Ga-” 

Maria swerved her head back to the fountain to see a large owl wearing a colorful vest and a small set of round glasses.

“Hoo- my apologies. Welcome to the World of Dreams. What brings a fine Visitor such as you here to the abandoned Dream Plaza?” The owl tilted his head to one side. His eyes gazed down and noticed the girl’s hands were glowing with a strange light.

“Oh my!” he gasped. “It seems you managed to get here without a single ideya stolen.”

“Ideya? World of Dreams?” Maria’s mind was full of questions, and the talking Owl’s strange words sparked more confusion.

“The World of Dreams is a realm some humans find themselves in while they are asleep. In here, sources of virtue call ideya bring light and life to our world. They are also sought after by the dark, neighboring realm of Nightmare. It is rare anyone finds themself in Nightopia with all of their ideya intact. May I ask, did you experience a nightmare before finding yourself here?”

Maria nodded. “It was a nightmare about my mom dying. The medics then turned into some sort of shadow creatures, and began chasing me.”

Owl nodded knowingly. “Those creatures are the inhabitants of Nightmare. They are called nightmaren. They are dark creatures aiming to steal the ideya of poor lost dreamers, yet you however have managed to escape their grasp. What is your name, mademoiselle?”

“I’m Maria,” she replied nervously.

“Welcome, Maria, to the humble world of Nightopia. You can call me Owl. I am a guide for any Visitors who find themselves in this world.” The brown owl bowed slightly, holding one wing out, and one to his chest.

“You haven’t explained what these ideya are, just that they are something that the nightmaren are after, and they bring life to this world.” Maria crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned onto her right leg.

“Well, Visitor, as I explained, ideya are sources of virtue every dreamer has when first entering our world. They are made up of 5 traits: courage, purity, intelligence, growth, and hope. Most Visitors who make their way here usually only have one ideya left, but somehow you escaped, and made your way here to the Dream Plaza which no Visitor has been in for years,” Owl rambled on. “May I ask, how did you nightmare end?”

Maria shrugged. “I just kept running. Some light within me started glowing really brightly, and I found myself pretty far in that forest over there.” The girl pointed into woods behind her.

“A light within you?” Owl tilted his tilted his head again. “Can you explain further?”

“I guess? I mean, I just kept my hopes up that I’d escape those shadows, and I did.” Maria gave an unsure look that it was descriptive enough.

“Hmm… I’ve heard of other Visitors with a similar experience, though I doubted any would find their way here _now_.”

“Why so?” the dreamer asked.

“The number of dreamers finding their way to Nightopia is very small. Places here like the Dream Plaza used to be packed with Visitors looking to visit their Nightopias. That number has been rapidly decreasing over the centuries due to Nightmare’s ruler, Wizeman. He aims to steal Visitor’s ideya in order to destroy Nightopia, and sadly, he has been winning. Many dreamers have fought him, though few managed to defeat him in battle. Even if he is defeated, he seems to always return and continue his quest to evict all light from this world.”

Maria gave a solemn smile. “Well, I’ll help keep this place alive, if I can, though I may need a guide to show me around.”

“I’ll gladly show you around, though there isn’t much you can find here.” Owl lifted off the birdbath, and began flapping his wings.

The avian began leading the girl down a wide path past broken walls and old stone ruins. As they walked, Owl acted as a tour guide to Maria explaining the many facets of Nightopia. Each time they came upon an old building, the author would ask what its purpose was, and the owl would explain it was something dreamers from long ago built, though its purpose was lost in time.

On the side of the road, Maria spotted a deep hole in the ground, and trotted over to it. “Owl, what is this cave here for?”

The old bird gave a solemn look. “This cave was carved out by the nightmaren when they invaded this plaza centuries ago. It is said lost nightmaren treasure has been left down there, though no one has ever ventured down there.”

Maria’s eyes lit up. “Then why don’t we go down and check?”

Before Owl could protest, Maria climbed down the stone and found herself in a dark cavern with lanterns sparsely illuminating the area. Maria didn’t even notice Owl had stayed behind as she followed the cave deeper and deeper. As she continued, the sound of trickling water could be heard coming from further down the way. This excited the writer, and her pace sped up. Eventually, Maria could feel the moist air as she turned around a corner to find an underground lake.

Looking around, the area was no longer lit by lanterns, but by lustrous, luminescent crystals jutting out from the ceiling, and walls. In the center of the last was a small island radiating a strange aura. Something about it attracted Maria, so she carelessly dove into the lake and swam to the island, and climbed onto it, fully soaked.

Once she managed to pull herself up onto the rocks, she looked around, and saw how truly massive this cavern was. In most directions, she could not see the walls but what seemed like endless darkness. Maria fully pulled herself to her feet, and walked to the center of the island where a strange periwinkle light illuminated the misty air. Carefully, the girl reached out towards the light, but suddenly found herself transported to a whole different world.

The writer nearly fell backwards as she found herself outside a strange pair of doors set the clifface of a mountain. Looking around, there was no other path than the one before her, so shrugged to herself and pulled at the handle of one of the doors. As she pulled, it wouldn’t budge. She then tried a second time pulling harder, to no avail. The third time, she leaned back with her whole body weight, and the door opened slightly with a click. Maria was was about to try again, but was startled as both doors began slowly opening themselves. _ If only they did that the first time _Maria grumbled to herself.

After backing away and letting the doors fully open, Maria entered. Before her was what seemed to be an endless staircase going up into the darkness. The girl paused and wondered if she should even attempt climbing the stairs, but the doors decided to make the decision themselves as they locked shut behind her. With a sigh, Maria began walking up the staircase. She was at least glad the stairs weren’t steep, and instead short and long, leading deep into the darkness. The only light it around her was a strange white light which resonated from her hands. Maria continued walking, as she looked down at her hands curiously and the light seemed to have some sort of star glowing from within. Before Maria could fully observe her hands, she realized the stairs had ended, and she nearly tripped.

In front of her now was circular with a small fountain like basin with glowing water. In the center was a pedestal with a small bluish orb. _ This must be the treasure Owl was talking about _ Maria thought to herself. Looking around, she searched for traps that might be around, but was relieved to find no signs of any. Walking through the ankle deep glowing water, Maria reached out for the orb, and was about to pick it up, but as soon as one of her fingers grazed the orb, it burst into wisps of white light.

As Maria slipped and fell back into the water behind her, the light slowly formed into something humanoid, yet not human at all. On either side of its head were large ram-like horns. On either side of them were claw-like hands wrapped with gray bandages. The bandages stopped at their forearm, and but continued on their chest below a purple and blue vest. 

Once they were fully formed, the creature squeezed its eyes together, and blinked them open revealing black holes where the whites would be, and their irises were like glowing aquamarine stars. Their eyes drifted around the room before falling upon the girl splayed awkwardly in the water.  
“Uh hi.” Maria voice was unsteady and weak, as she gave an awkward wave. “I’m Maria. What’s your name?”

The creature paused and thought for a moment but their eyes lit up and they smiled. “My name is Twylight. It’s nice to meet you, Maria!”

The creature offered their hand to the teen, and helped her up.  
“What were you doing in that orb?” Maria inquired.

“I don’t really know. I don’t really have any memories until now,” they replied looking down at the rest of their body like they have never seen it before.  
“Well, do you at least know the way out of here? The door at the bottom of the staircase locked me in here, so I’m stuck.” Maria wasn’t very fearful of being stuck here, since she knew she was in some sort of dream, but if this is where she’d appear in the next time she dreamt here, it would become unbearable.  
The creature curiously poked the air, and a strange portal of sorts erupted from their finger. “Follow me,” Twylight said, gliding through the purple and blue, galaxy filled ring.

Maria hesitated for a few seconds, but determined there was nowhere else to go. The girl put her hand in, and then pulled it back to test that this portal didn’t eat her up, and finally decided to walk through.

On the other side of the portal was a barren land covered in snow. Twylight was looking up at the night sky and said, “This place is so boring. There should be more light.” As if responding to the ram-horned creature’s words, the sky lit up with stars, and bright aurora basking the snow with color.

“Wow…” the teen gasped. “This is incredible, though this place is quite cold.” Maria had pulled her arms close, and was shivering.

“I’m sorry,” Twylight replied. “Why don’t I fix that?” Once again, the world responded to their words, and the air became warm, and the snow somehow felt warm, though it never melted.

“What is this place?” Maria asked, still looking up at the sky.

“This is my lair, I think,” Twylight spoke with a lack of confidence.

“A lair? Aren’t lairs like spooky places where evil mad scientist or vampire-like villains lurk around?” Maria chuckled.

“I don’t know. That’s just the first word that came to me to describe it.” Twylight shrugged goofily.

Maria laughed at the creature’s silly reaction, and couldn’t help but wonder. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of creature are you? I’m new to this dream world, and have never seen anything like you before.”

Twylight seemed puzzled, and not offended to Maria’s relief. “I think I’m called a nightmaren. All I know is I was made by some leader named Wizeman, and I’m supposed to find him and serve now that I have awoken.”

Maria immediately backed away. _ This is one of the creatures Owl warned me about, but they seem so clueless. _ “So, you were made to steal ideya from me in order to destroy Nightopia?”

Twylight gave a concerned expression. “I never said that. All I know is I was made to serve Wizeman. Maybe that’s what he wants me to do, but I haven’t even received orders yet.”

“Wait, so you’re not going to steal my ideya?” Maria asked, letting out a breath as the rest of her body relaxed.

“Why would I? I mean, you’re the first person I’ve ever met, so I guess your the only friend I have.” The nightmaren gave a small smile, hoping Maria would return it.

Maria was heartwarmed by Twylight’s words, and smiled back. “Do you know how to get back to the Dream Plaza? I kinda ditched an old bird back there, and he might be worried.”

“Sure. I think I have an idea where that is.” The blue-eyed dream creature poked the air once again, and another portal burst out from under their index claw.

Maria decided to enter first, and was somewhat surprised to see Twylight had actually led them back outside the cave where Owl was sitting on the rim of his bird bath muttering to himself. “Hey Owl. Sorry I left you behind.”

The old bird turned his head, and his eyes widened in shock. “Maria, carefully walk towards me.” Maria calmly walked over to Owl as he flew into the air in front of the girl protectively. “Stay away from her, nightmaren! Her ideya are not yours to claim!”

Twylight gave a pathetic worried expression and pulled their arms in defensively.

“Wait, Owl, Twylight here isn’t bad. I found them down in that cave locked inside an orb, and I released them from it,” Maria explained.

Owl’s eyes widened with understanding. “An orb you said?” The girl nodded. “Hmm,” Owl said ruffling his feathers. “In any case, I’m sorry for scaring you. My name is Owl. I am the one who guides Visitors such as Maria around Nightopia. As long as you don’t harm her, or any other Visitors, you are welcome to be here. Just as a warning, if NiGHTS sees you, he may be just as, or if more defensive as I initially was. Be careful around him, as he is quite a powerful nightmaren, like yourself.”

“Powerful?” Twylight asked. “What do you mean by powerful?” Before Twylight was given the answer, Maria started fading away. “Maria?! What’s happening to you?”

“Don’t worry,” Owl spoke soothingly. “She is simply waking up.”


	2. The Dream Plaza

_ Once Maria was gone, Twylight turned to Owl, and asked their question again. “What do you mean by powerful?” _

_ “You are nightmaren, and by your appearance, I assume you are a 1st level.” Owl observed Twylight still questioning eyes, and continued. “Nightmaren are ranked in 3 different levels. 3rd levels are the least powerful, and are compared to animals from the Waking World. 2nd levels are quite powerful, but their powers are often undermined by their weaknesses. Lastly, there are 1st levels. There are very few, but they are considered 2nd in power compared to Wizeman himself. Your appearance is that of a 1st level, quite humanoid and lack clear weaknesses, but that doesn’t mean you  _ are _ a 1st level. There have been quite a few nightmaren bearing the visage of a 1st level in the past, though a few remain. They are considered 2nd level due to their lack of strength compared to the two current 1st levels: NiGHTS and Reala.” _

_ “So, how do I determine if I’m a 1st level or a 2nd level?” Twylight tilted their head to the side, like they saw Owl doing before. _

_ Owl shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what level you are. Wizeman only uses those to rank his minions, and you, my dear, are not worth his judgement.” _

_ “So, what you’re saying is I shouldn’t go to Wizeman and serve him?” The nightmaren stood there, even more confused than before. _

_ Owl nodded. “He does not deserve your service, even if he is your creator. Just from knowing you a few minutes, I can tell you have an independent soul. You would not be happy following orders and hurting Visitors such as Maria.” _

_ “Thank you, Owl.” Twylight bowed their head. “You are very wise. I will stay here in Nightopia and not serve Wizeman as you said.” _

That morning, Maria was awoken by their friend Abby playing a game loudly on her phone. “Finally you’re up, sleepyhead. Raya told me to tell you she was going sledding with her little sisters, and she invited us to join her at Gibbous Hill Park around noon.”

Abby’s room was located in a location that just so happened to be perfectly angled that the sun often landed right where Maria was sleeping, blinding her. The writer grumbled as she blocked her eyes from the light, and her friend got up to close the curtains.

On the floor, the girl reached around, searching for her phone somewhere in her sleeping bag. It took a second, but she felt solid little block she knew was her little dumb phone, and pulled it out. As she clicked the power button on its face, it revealed the time was 9:43 in the morning.

“You wanna get breakfast? My dad cooked pancakes before heading to the embassy,” the actress offered.  
“Sure,” Maria replied. “Let me quickly go to the bathroom and change my clothes.”

After using the toilet, Maria changed into a cute brown sweater, a pair of pale blue skinny jeans, and fuzzy purple socks. She quickly brushed her short yet thick hair out catching a few knots as she always did. Brushing her hair was so much easier after she had it cut to the crook of her neck. Before, she always had to spend time carefully combing big mats that always seemed to form in her wavy hair. Now, she could easily pull the entwined hair apart just by using her fingers.

Once the girl exited the bathroom, she immediately walked downstairs. As she went closer to the kitchen, the aroma of buttermilk pancakes filled the air. In the kitchen, Abby was pulling fruit salad from the fridge, and getting plates ready for her friend. Maria walked in, and grabbed her plate to start putting food on.

After the two got food, Abby asked, “How was your sleep? You were sleeping so heavily, my walking around and playing games didn’t wake you up as usual.”

“It was good,” she replied. “I had a small nightmare about my mom, but it ended, and I had a small adventure in some fantasy world.”

“Sounds interesting,” the American spoke while chewing on a piece of pineapple. “You wanna go sledding with Raya today?”

“Why not?” Maria shrugged, cutting another piece of pancake with her fork, before lifting it to her mouth and chewing. “I can go home and grab the tobogan, and meet you there.”

“Sounds like a plan,” the actress replied.

After finishing the food, Abby cleaned up as Maria grabbed her stuff and drove home. The writer quickly grabbed her coat, snow pants and gloves, looking around to see if there was anything she missed.

“Going sledding as well?” The voice of her dad startled her even though he was sitting 10 feet away in the kitchen while reading a newspaper. “Will and Jake left about 20 minutes ago bringing two of the smaller sleds.”

“Yeah. Raya invited us to go sledding with her around 12,” she replied. “She’s bringing her little sisters, and Abby is going to join us.”  
“Sounds like fun. Just remember to be careful.” Her father glanced up from his paper, and immediately looked back down.

After grabbing the heavy sled from the attic, Maria received a text from Abby to pick her up, since her mom took the other car to go to her yoga class. The teen hopped into the SUV, and drove back to her friend’s house where the blue-haired girl was standing in front of her driveway bundled up in a thick white jacket.

Hopping into the passenger’s side, Abby clapped her feet together getting the packed snow off. As they drove, they passed through the village of Bellbridge with quaint, rustic buildings Maria glanced over and saw the library she worked at which had a few cars parallel parked outside. Beside it was the hair salon she had been going to since she was a child.

Abby seemed to notice where Maria’s eyesight went and chuckled. “Remember in middle school when you had your hair dyed that aqua color?”

“Don’t remind me,” Maria whined in embarrassment.

“You were so proud of your blue hair, though it faded into that weird green color since you weren’t told how to take care of it.” Abby knew the limit on how long she could tease her friend so she stopped.

“Hey! Look who has blue hair now!” Maria countered.

“Yeah, but I know how to take care of it!” the pestering teen laughed.

After a few more minutes, the two reached Gibbous Hill Park, the largest and most popular park in the Bellbridge village area. The parking lot was filled with the cars of other sledders, though Maria managed to get a parking spot close to the hill. Abby helped her out in pulling the tobogan out of the trunk door, though refused to lug it all the way up the hill.

The two observed the other sledders looking for their friend’s iconic red hair. Instead, they spotted a green mohawk and blond-ish medium length hair zooming down the hill. The girls looked at each other and silently agreed to avoid their younger brothers.

Looking back up the hill, Maria saw a girl with red hair speeding down the hill with two younger girls, one brunette, and the other ginger. As the girls reached the bottom of the hill, Maria and Abby trudged as fast as they could towards them. Raya helped her little sisters out of their long, blue, plastic sled before looking up and smiling at her friends. “Hey you two! I got more sleds up at the top, though I see you brought the tobogan.”

The other girls looked down at the padded wooden sled and looked back up at their friend. “Thought you and your sisters would like to try it. It’s always the most fun sled.”

“Why not?” the redhead shrugged.  
Maria was still left to lug the heavy sled up the hill due to the others claim she was the strongest. As they climbed, the younger sisters tried racing each other up the hill and one of the youngest’s feet got caught in the snow causing her to land face flat in the snow. Normally with little kids falling, it would not be acceptable to laugh, but this girl was a bit of a jokester and she laughed along as she pushed herself out of the imprint she left.

Once they all reached the top, Maria noticed there was a couple sitting on the bench under the ‘love tree’. This tree has been there for ages, and it has been a staple of the town. Over the years, many couples have carved their names in the tree, and it is said that if you carve your names into that tree, you’ll be in love forever. The story seemed like a normal wives tale, but no one has ever recorded couples falling out of love after carving their initials. 

_ Hmm… Maybe I should do a little research and write about it on my blog,  _ the writer thought to herself. Maria did work at the library, so it wouldn’t be hard to do a little research during her next shift.

After about two rounds of sledding, Maria and Abby were approached by none other than their middle school brothers. Jake approached Abby and asked, “What are you two doing, copying our idea?” The boy seemed agitated just by seeing his older sister.

“We came here because Raya invited us to go sledding with her and her little sisters.” Abby remained serious as her brother tried to get under her skin.  
“Well why don’t we race to see if younger brothers are better than older sisters.” Jake bore a smirk which teetered on the edge or playfulness and rage. It unnerved both sisters, though Abby was quite dulled to it. “Come on Will,” the boy demanded. “Let’s finally prove that boys are better than girls!”

Will gave an uneasy look toward his sister like a plea for help or an apology.

Maria just sighed

“Let’s get this over with, and try to win. Don’t want his ego getting any bigger” Abby sighed.

The boys and girls used identical sleds that Will had brought earlier. Both pairs lined up at the exact same distance and with a countdown, they slid down the steep hill at the simultaneously. At the front of the brothers’ sled was Jake who tried crouching down to decrease air resistance. Meanwhile, Maria was at the front of the sisters’. Together, Maria and Abby weighed more than the Will and Jake. This gave the girls an advantage causing them to slip down the hill. Jake saw this, and tried speeding up his own sled, by using his hand to push it down the hill, but in doing so, he leaned to the side too much causing the sled to wipe out.  
As Maria and Abby looked up the hill, they saw Jake angrily shaking the snow off himself. From a distance they couldn’t tell exactly what Jake was saying but they both knew he was probably being passive aggressive towards Will. The girls climbed the hill to get in better hearing range of the conversation.  
“Dude, I wasn’t doing anything to make us wipe out,” Will retorted to his teammate.  
“Exactly, dude! You should’ve been counterbalancing me!” 

Jake’s body language was slowly getting more threatening, so Abby stepped in. “Jake, that’s enough. This was only supposed to be for fun. That’s what competition is in the end?”  
“How would you know, Ab? Have you ever been in a real sport? Musicals and dancing aren’t real sports,” he shot back turning his anger at his sister letting Maria comfort her younger brother.

“We’ve gone over this. Dance is as much a form of physicality as any other sport is, be it football, soccer, et cetera. You just let your ego get the better of you.”  
As that sibling pair continued to debate, Maria led her brother up the hill to go sledding together. The writer had been thinking about telling her brother to reconsider his friendship due to how toxic Jake clearly was, but she knew it was a complicated situation due to them being on the same football team.  
The two slid down the hill together avoiding the arguing siblings. Maria cleared her mind as the air swept past her face causing a strand of hair to catch on her mouth. The girl tried blowing it out, but it wouldn’t budge. As she was distracted, she hit a ramp someone had made earlier out of snow, and went flying. Gladly she didn’t injure herself on the landing, but she instantly lost control upon hitting the snow giving her a face full of snow. She laughed it off wiping the snow out of her face as she saw Will finish his run.

Will had been completely oblivious to Maria’s crash, and looked back, heading up the hill again to her. Maria knew not to sit there on the hill since others might be headed down. Maria got up the hill where Jake was calling his mom to pick him up. Abby walked over the Maria and whispered. “He says he doesn’t want to sled anymore because sledding is lame,” rolling her eyes. “Wanna do a few more runs?”

Maria nodded. “Sure. We should check on Raya though.”

_ Meanwhile, Twylight was flying around in the Dream Plaza curious about everything. _

_ “Where did Maria go?’” they asked. They spun around hoping their newfound friend would reappear. _

_“There’s no need to worry, my dear. She simply went back to her world,” Owl spoke.__  
_ _“And where’s that? I want to see-”__  
_ _Owl shook his head. “I’m afraid you can’t go there. None of can. The Waking World is a place no dream creatures can go.”__  
_ _“Why not? From what I know, I could go anywhere.” Twylight poked the air, and an indigo ring of energy erupted from that spot._

_Owl flew backwards in surprise as the ring grew to approximately 6 ft before stopping.__  
_ _“Come on! Let’s see what’s through here!” Twylight grabbed Owl’s wing._

_ The grin Twylight had was familiar one the bird had seen on another Nightopia bound nightmaren plenty of times before, and knew there was no changing their mind. _

_Through the portal was emptiness. No light, or life to be sensed. Twylight looked around confusedly, and looked back to Owl worriedly.__  
_ _“Hello? Anyone around?” they asked curiously, unafraid of the darkness._

_ Two light green dots appeared in the darkness. “Who...Are you?” The sound of a feminine voice echoed through the void. _

_ “My name is Twylight, and this is Owl!” they maren greeted cheerfully. “What’s your name?” _

_ Silence answered Twylight’s words as the other being analyzed them. The dots began growing closer as more features came into view. The dots became eyes with cat-like pupils. Surrounding them were long eyelashes and makeup on brown skin. Instead of hair were dark pearlescent horns curling inward like a crab’s claw. “How...did you get here?” _

_ Twylight was starting to sense this figure wasn’t very fond of their intrusion, but replied, “I created a portal to anywhere, and it led me here.” _

_ Owl tried to pull Twylight away from this stranger, but they barely budged. “Twylight we must go,” he spoke, but was immediately pulled from Twylight’s hold by disembodied claws. _

_ The floating forearms dragged Owl towards the stranger. Her body was now in view revealing her arms and legs detached from the elbows and knees by clean cuts. The arms holding the bird reattached to the rest of her body as she gave a dark smirk. “What is a fellow Nightmaren doing with this old bird? I’m sure Wizeman wouldn’t be happy to see one of his new minions galavanting around Nightopia now would he?” _

_ “I-I’m not one of Wizeman’s soldiers,” Twylight replied, attempting to subdue their fear. _

_ “Then you’re one of NiGHTS’ friends, aren’t you,” she hissed darkly. _

_ “NiGHTS?” Twylight cluelessly questioned. _

_“NiGHTS of course NiGHTS! Always playing hard to get. Even though Wizeman has plenty more loyal subjects at his beck and call, he spends all of his time and resources trying to capture NiGHTS and reprogram him into a more loyal subject neglecting those who would gladly let him reprogram them into greater beings.”__  
_ _“Can you please let go of Owl?” Twylight asked politely._

_ The nightmaren repeated Twylight’s words mockingly then replied. “Of course not. If I show Wizeman I captured two traitors, he’ll surely promote me to a 1st level.” Her glare shifted into a maniacal grin. Before she could attack, the indigo maren pried the villain’s hands off their friend and dashed away through through portal with Owl in their arms. They shut the portal behind them like a child hiding from the monsters in their closet, and curled up on the ground. _

_ “Who was that?” Twylight was still flight mode, shaking with adrenaline. _

_ “That was another Nightmaren,” Owl explained. “Her name is Spaes.” _

_ “Why was she so angry?” Hidden by Twylight’s fear was concern. _

_ Owl paused for a second to remember everything. “Like I said before, Wizeman ranks all of his soldiers. When he was making her, she was planned to become a 1st level, the highest rank. However, someone interfered. She didn’t come out as powerful as planned and was ranked as a 2nd level.” _

_ “That sounds really sad.” Twylight furrowed their eyebrows, giving thought to the creature who just attack them. “What kind of person stopped her?” _

_ “Two Visitors,” Owl replied. “Hoo, I forget their names, but they had grown many years here in Nightopia. Though, I have never seen or heard from them since. I sure hope they are living splendid lives.” _

_Twylight nodded thoughtlessly, looking up at the blue sky, and laying down in the grass. “I just don’t know what to think about everything. Everything seems so big and confusing.”__  
_ _Owl hummed, and landed in the grass next to Twylight. “Why don’t you start off small trying to learn some simple things about Nightopia?”__  
_ _The environment was quite quiet with the sound of leaves rustling in the wind, and the brook babbling until a voice began calling out, “Owl? Owl?! Owl where are you?”__  
_ _When Twylight turned to Owl, they noticed his eyes go wide. “Twylight, go hide. NiGHTS does not like other Nightmarens.”__  
_ _Looking around, the ‘maren couldn’t identify a hiding spot in time, so they went around Owl’s instruction, and transformed into a human similar to Maria.__  
_ _The approaching figure was a purple horned jester with big blue eyes. “There you are Owl! I was looking for you all through Nightopia, and who is this?”__  
_ _The bird turned around and was surprised at the sight of a human with silver hair. “Oh, why...this is Twy...len.” he replied.__  
_ _“Oh, well then welcome to Nightopia, Twylen! My name is NiGHTS! I’m surprised you appeared here in this old place, but there is much of Nightopia to explore!” _

_ The jester pulled Twylight to their feet, about to drag them off somewhere, but Owl moved in the way giving NiGHTS a stern look. “NiGHTS, be careful not to scare our new Visitor.” _

_ “Sorry! I just love meeting new Visitors and showing them Nightopia, but I suppose the old bird is right to slow things down.” NiGHTS looked at Twylight to see them give a shallow nod. _

_ “I’m afraid Twylen has no Nightopias to see,” Owl spoke, causing NiGHTS to completely pause. _

_“You mean, they have no ideya at all?” he asked.__  
_ _Owl nodded solemnly.__  
_ _“Hmm...Maybe that’s why you appeared here instead of the Dream Gate,” NiGHTS muttered to themself. “Either way, you are welcome to roam this world, and I can show you around, if you’d like,” NiGHTS offered._

_ “That would be nice,” the ‘human’ nodded. _

_“I guess I’ll talk to you later Owl. Got a new friend to give a tour,” NiGHTS grinned, leading Twylen down the brick path away from the bird bath. After a few seconds travelling down the path, NiGHTS asked, have you ever thought about flying, Twylen?”__  
_ _“I suppose,” Twylen shrugged nervously, knowing to keep their feet on the ground, since they knew humans couldn’t fly somehow.__  
_ _“Would you like to try?” the jester asked, with a grin slowly growing._

_ “But, how?” they asked nervously. _

_ “By dualizing of course!” they smiled. “All you have to do is give me a hand, and then we’ll be off flying around this place!” NiGHTS lowered their hand in front of Twylen. “Want to give it a try?” _

_ Twylen didn’t know what would happen, but they decided to not cause conflict by not accepting, and nodded. They slowly rested their hand in NiGHTS’ but nothing happened. They looked up at NiGHTS with wondering eyes as to what would happen next. _

_ “Huh,” NiGHTS said, tapping Twylight’s hand twice more. “That’s interesting. I’ve never encountered a Visitor I couldn’t dualize with, but then again, I haven’t tried dualizing with someone who doesn’t have any ideya.” _

_ “So what does that mean?” Twylight asked, hoping NiGHTS wouldn’t suspect anything yet. _

_ “I guess I just can’t dualize with dreamers who don’t have any ideya. Oh well. We can still explore though!” NiGHTS said, keeping the mood chipper. _

_ “What are cool places to see around here?” Twylen looked up at the jester gliding being beside them. _

_“Honestly, I haven’t spent much time around here in a very long time, but I can show you some of the old buildings,” he replied motioning to some ruins down the path.__  
_ _The ruins were mainly made of a pale stone. There wasn’t much definition of the buildings left other than the remains of crumbled walls, arches, pillars, but some of the ruins seemed like they could have been houses, or other kinds of human buildings. How Twylight could recognize such, they didn’t totally understand themself. _

_ Sticking up out of the grass covered floor of one such structure, a small statue or figure stuck out of the ground.Twylight continued looking over the details of this small building, “Did people live here?” _

_ “Sort of, but not really,” he replied, gazing mournfully at the ruins. “A lot more dreamers used to come through this place. It was a place where people could have freedom from their lives in the Waking World where most of their time was spent. While they were here though, they made houses and other buildings like the ones in the Waking World, but honestly, I’m not familiar with what any of these were used for. You’d probably know better than me, being a Visitor yourself.” _

_ Twylight continued looking over the ruins. The two wandered through different buildings, and passed other structures. Some were small like the one with the little figure in it, but others seemed like gathering places for people, like shops, and other things. One such building caught Twylight’s eyes: a big castle with tall towers and walls. _

_ As soon as NiGHTS saw the direction of Twylight’s gaze he said, “It’s best we don’t go into that castle. It’s said there is a very dark creature locked up in there.” _

_ “Is it a Nightmaren?” Twylight asked. _

_“I don’t know, but I’ve been in there once, and the whole place had a dark aura,” he answered.__  
_ _The expression on NiGHTS’ face made it clear to Twylight that whatever was in there scared them or struck a chord, so they decided not to ask any further questions._

_After a few moments wandering around other buildings, Twylight asked, “What’s it like being a Nightmaren?”__  
_ _NiGHTS turned their head with surprise. “You know I’m-”_

_ “Owl mentioned it when he was talking to me earlier, that you are, I guess, a 1st level, whatever that means.”  _

_ NiGHTS was confused by this person’s lack of fear, but maybe it was because it was their first night. “Yes. I’m nightmaren, but not all Nightmaren are nice, and you have to be careful.” _

_ Twylight nodded. “Owl told me. He said that Nightmaren follow some evil guy called Wizeman.” _

_ “I’m impressed, especially for your first night,” NiGHTS said. “Usually I just explain it when we inevitably encounter other Nightmaren in Nightopia.” NiGHTS noticed Twylen looking uncomfortable and then added, “-which is good you know now so you know can avoid other Nightmaren when you see them.” _

_Twylight decided to continue asking NiGHTS about this world as they walked around the Plaza. Eventually, they reached the forest, and began exploring that. They saw a path of stepping stones down a small, somewhat overgrown path and said, “I wonder where this leads.” They kept following the path to a very overgrown area making it difficult for NiGHTS to fly. It eventually reached an old wooden door hidden by bushes and vines. The younger maren looked at the older maren in question, and NiGHTS shrugged, not knowing what it led to. ‘Twylen’ opened the door, and inside was a cave full of bookshelves and books. It looked abandoned like everything else in the Plaza, but the whole place was still quite intact.__  
_ _“Woah,” NiGHTS said, as he glided in behind Twylight, looking as amazed as Twylight at the lost library.__  
_ _“Have you seen this place before?” the young ‘maren asked.__  
_ _“Never, but I heard rumors of a library where Visitors could record their memories to share with others. I just never thought it really existed,” he said, gliding over the railing into the vast cavern._

_Twylight followed, but walked down the staircase to the floor where fancy rugs covered the cobblestone, and padded chairs and benches covered that. The bookcases were amazingly tall, with magical ladders to reach the right books. The ‘human’ began walking down one of the rows, and found it to be like a maze, finding another area with rugs, chairs and tables surrounded by more book cases. NiGHTS meanwhile was flying around, trying to understand the layout of the place.__  
_ _“NiGHTS? Where did you go?” Twylight called, looking around to see if they could spot the purple jester speeding about.__  
_ _“I’m down here!” he shouted. His voice led Twylight through a few rows to a ledge where there was a waterfall coming out of a hole in the roof of the cave. Along the ledge was a weaving staircase down to a pond, and another sitting place with plenty more bookcases. Slowly, the ‘Visitor’ made their way down the long stairs to the bottom to find NiGHTS now looking at scrolls which looked far more ancient than any of the ones up top.__  
_ _“What are you reading?” Twylight asked, as they finally reached NiGHTS._

_ “It’s nothing,” he said, putting the scroll down. “Just an old myth from very early in Nightmare.” _

_ “About what?” they inquired, continuing to walk over. _

_“One of Wizeman’s first creations,” the jester sighed. “It’s said his first creation was a monster, one that was so powerful it rivaled Wizeman himself. Before it could rampage and do anything, he destroyed it, and hid its parts away so it couldn’t be a threat or something. I don’t really remember the last details, but if you want to know more, you can read this book I found. I don’t know much about it.”__  
_ _They nodded, and walked over to the book, not paying attention to NiGHTS who flew away, but when they noticed, they didn’t mind. They just looked at the artwork of a caped figure with multiple hands motioning to a large dragon breathing fire. The next panel showed the dragon writhing as five gems of sorts shot energy beams at it. The final panel was three orbs, and then a chest, showing they were sealed away. Twylight set the paper down, and walked to a chair wondering about the scroll. They paused, and decided to portal away while they could so NiGHTS would think ‘Twylen’ woke up, and they could go back to their normal form._

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed the story! I'm pretty bad at writing quickly, but I'll do my best to update.
> 
> \- Twylen


End file.
